"Your article 'Understanding
Tests and Measurements' is an excellent reference for
parents and should be read in all teacher education programs.
I am a parent of a child with special needs, who has a MSED
degree. The details of testing and measurement can be confusing
and IEP planning tedious. I will recommend this to friends."

We developed a PowerPoint
slide
show to teach you how to use test data and how to chart
progress. Graphs of the child's test scores can be used as dramatic
visual aids to show educational progress or lack of progress
(regression).

Parents and advocates
can use "progress graphs" at IEP meetings to support their request
for a different special education program. Attorneys can use
"progress graphs" at due process hearings to show lack of progress
(regression) in the current program.

Here is how the
slide show is organized. This child was evaluated four times
(in 1990, 1991, 1992, 1995). We made a graph of the child's
standard scores. We converted the standard scores to percentile
ranks (information about how to do this is in the "Tests and
Measurements" article), then made graphs of the child's educational
achievement scores as percentile ranks.

Despite five years
of special education, this child made little progress in academic
skills. These graphs were used as evidence in one of our cases.